The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Monthly Archives: March 2014

When life gives you a lemon …

Posted on by Posted in Edibles, Tree .

… stare at said lemon for hours on end, shocked you could even produce one of these on a tropical tree in your colder climate. Or something like that.

Weather still sucks here in case you were wondering. The only way to even think about checking out the garden is via hovercraft and mine is in the shop.

So I’ll have to entertain myself by ogling the lone Meyer lemon that is on the tree right now.

Well that and the last remaining bloom on the tree as well.

OK and also the new growth that has emerged all over the tree.

Did I mention how wonderful it is outside?

Yes, that is lawn and not the Delaware River.

I did eventually find  a way to get out in the garden without being swept away just to enjoy the bulbs that have started to put on growth at a nice pace.

The daffodils.

And the crocuses.

Even more exciting, is the promise of Viburnum blooms in the near future.

It is coming slowly, but at least we are trending in the right direction.

Podcast – “James Golden (The Garden at Federal Twist)”

Posted on by Posted in Podcasts .

I just wrapped up another podcast with my friend and neighbor, James Golden, the owner of the must-see garden – “The Garden at Federal Twist”.

To listen to it, click here.

To check out his fantastic blog, click here.

Want to visit the garden in person this summer? Click here for more details.

All fired up in the morning

Posted on by Posted in Garden memoir .

March 24th – 6:18 AM

Casey is barking at the bottom of the stairs and I couldn’t be more excited to hear her. I may have only had a few good hours of sleep the prior night (thanks “Walking Dead” you evil bastards) but it is the first time in days that our 14 1/2 year old Lab woke us up with her typical morning greeting.

Out of the blue a few days earlier, she struggled to walk and appeared to develop severe pain in her right front leg. It got to the point where I had to carry her outside each time she had to use the facilities.

But after sweating it out for a few days and an eventual visit to the vet, we thankfully discovered it was only her arthritis flaring up again. A few laser treatments and some good meds later, she was close to being her self again. Including the morning wake-up call.

So I happily jump out of bed, jog down the stairs, shut off the alarm and head outside with my little girl (no need to carry any more). Of course, I forget that we are still in our eighth consecutive month of winter and proceed to freeze my friggin ass off. A t-shirt and boxers in 19 degree temps kind of hurts.

But now a dramatic pause …

You feeling it?

Because even though I have icicles hanging from my eyelids, I yelp like a teenage girl when I saw this:

That would be the first sign of Allium ‘Globemaster’, she of the softball sized bloom. I can’t truly explain the jolt I receive when I set eyes on this beauty but it is enough to get me to not only ignore the cold, but to subsequently get properly dressed and head back outdoors prior to leaving for work that morning.

All I want to do is spend fifteen minutes cutting back some perennials so I could look at the new growth. It feels like a calling and I am ready to oblige. F the winter.

B-bye Peony dead foliage:  

Time to make way for the “new”:

Later Baptisia deadness:

Let the sun shine in and grow you little bastard:

The energy I have is palpable. I roll right from perennial cutting to Crabapple tree pruning. Nothing major but enough to clean things up a bit.

Here is the “before”:

And the “after”:

I then quickly head indoors and acknowledge that I should probably take down the Christmas lights one of these days:

Elapsed time ends up being closer to thirty minutes but I still have enough time to shower, get the kids on the bus and make it to work on time.

The ideal start to the work week.

Garden assessment

Posted on by Posted in My garden, Pruning .

Can I get outside and get my non-calloused hands in the friggin dirt already? With the official first day of spring here, I should have so much more done by now. Every ornamental grass should be cut down. The perennials should be cleaned up with their new growth exposed. The trees should be pruned. The plants that wussed out and didn’t survive the winter should be enjoying their new home on the compost pile. But we ain’t even close to that right now. Not by a long shot.

Now having said all that, I am still remaining patient. I believe the term you all may use is “maturing”. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was my early spring garden. The truth is, the soil is still so wet and I am not about to compact my compacted soil any further. As much as I want to put on my shit-kicking boots and garden away, we must wait.

But that doesn’t mean we cannot plan. I’ve told you before about my detailed plant spreadsheet but did you know that there is a column dedicated to spring tasks associated with each plant? And I log what I ended up doing each spring, going back five years now? Yes, I am aware of how awesome I am and I appreciate your praise. We can’t all be this organized and on top of things. You just have to accept it and move on.

So as I navigated the garden with pen and paper in tow (I can still kick it old school), here are some of the things I noted for future efforts or just simply noted or even noted in anger.

My four year old Malus (Crabapple) ‘Prairie Fire’ has never been touched beyond the removal of some suckers at the base and dead wood when I remembered to notice it. Well now I am ready to prune it a bit to aid in its development.              

As you can see, it could use some shaping but I don’t want to prune it just for the sake of pruning. I’ve done my research though and I think I am ready to take the plunge. Now is the time to do so before it blooms and leafs out. There are quite a few crossing branches that can be cut out.

And also a few branches that are now growing back towards the center of the tree.

More to come after John Scissorhands chops away. Did I mention how phenomenal the blooms are come the end of April?

I’ve been disappointed to date with the growth and habit of my Amelanchier (Serviceberry) ‘Autumn Brilliance’ and my gut tells me to take action with a pruner. For now however, we are ignoring said gut and leaving this alone for another year.

This Viburnum ‘Shoshoni’ is dangerously close to outgrowing its spot along the front of my home but I’ve managed to trim it enough “post bloom” to keep it in bounds. I have considered a severe pruning to really address the potential spacing issue but again, will continue with the light shearing and enjoy an actual shrub that is happily thriving in my garden.

Just a minute to salute this Viburnum ‘Emerald Lustre’ and the fact that the deer have never touched it and I can let it grow to its heart content. No pruning required here.

Me like berries and would never mess with that.

I so love the Redtwig dogwood (this is ‘Arctic Fire’) in winter so I will be selectively pruning this one to aid in the production of young red stems for next fall/winter.

You are looking at a suckering Clethra and I’m not quite sure if that is a good or bad thing yet. I welcome the spreading but need to keep an eye on it to see if it affects the overall growth of the mother plant.  

Time to remove the Holly ‘Blue Princess’ from the spreadsheet as she got her ass kicked this winter. And yes, this is not a deciduous Holly.

I am in the process of writing a new garden song entitled “The day the arborvitaes died” as I have close to ten of these that are in need of removal. I never really took to them anyway but they filled space and that can’t be underestimated.

I played around with some experimental pruning with Weigela ‘Wine and Roses’ a few years ago and this is the one I’ve never touched. Pruning to the ground worked well on another with its new flush of wine colored foliage and it is now residing in a container on my deck (long story). I think I may allow this to bloom in the late spring and then I will cut it back severely.

This is what happens when you desperately throw a boxwood in a container in December.  

This is what happens when you … actually I have no idea what happened to this unfortunate boxwood.

Since this Physocarpus (Ninebark) is on my deck and away from the soggy soil, I went to town and cut it back to a few inches. Hopefully the newly emerging foliage will be vibrant and light up this container.

Some other parts of the garden are completely inaccessible at this time so there is more evaluating to come. And yes, I will soon share my “plant spreadsheet of the gods” with you all but not the machinations that are behind it. That is for a future episode of Shark Tank.

John

Saying goodbye to winter

Posted on by Posted in Spring .

While there is still some snow on the ground and it is still frigid outside, I have officially declared it to be spring in my neck of the woods. We were fortunate to have been spared by the storm that just hit the Mid-Atlantic last night so I am confident that things will only look up from here. The nasty winter is in the rearview and it is time to get down to business.

The photo below is a great representation of how my garden looks right now:

Ornamental grasses ready to be cut to the ground, perennial foliage that has been battered all winter and deciduous shrubs that are just now showing signs of leafing out. In other words, a lot of brown and not much else.

But we move on. There is garden assessment and work to be done.

Grab a child, put a hedge trimmer in their hands, scream at them incessantly through a megaphone and before you know it, the grasses have been cleaned up.

 

And nothing is more exciting than spotting those few blades of green grass emerging on the cool weather ornamental grasses.

There are signs of the daffodils returning.

And the geraniums are showing signs of life.

There are some reminders of the past, like this milkweed seed capsule.

Or this small ornamental grass that never took hold after being planted last fall. RIP whatever grass you are since I’ve already forgotten.

There is still a lot of work to be done and how awesome is that?

Starting seeds indoors

Posted on by Posted in How-to .

I’ve never been able to grow vegetables with any success due to my poor draining soil (waaahhh, I know, I sound like a broken record) and hovering deer population (ditto with these guys). Because of that, I’ve attempted to grow them from seed in containers on my deck. I’ve had some good fortune with this venture but have struggled to find the time to do it right. Keeping the seeds moist, thinning out the seedlings and doing it all before many of the veggies bolt hasn’t been given the necessary attention it deserves.

But spring is now here and we all start anew. Like everyone else, I am loaded with optimism. This is the year I supply the family with homegrown food throughout the spring, summer and fall.

And it all starts today.

I started seeds indoors for the first time (technically the second, I failed miserably last year but kept that on the down low) and WILL teach myself to transplant these seedlings outdoors through trial and error. Here are the seeds I’ve chosen from Seeds Now:        

I am starting small and keeping it simple for now. I even purchased a seed starting kit to save time knowing there are more creative ways to do this for no money at all.

Wish me luck.

Next week, I’ll be direct sowing seeds outdoors in containers. Good times.

Update on pruning Ninebark ‘Diablo’

Posted on by Posted in Pruning .

Six weeks ago I had written a post that had me wondering aloud as to how I would prune my Ninebark ‘Diablo’. After many sleepless nights and hours upon hours of research, I finally made a decision.

Here she is in current state:

With the differing branch colors indicating older versus newer “wood”:

And then we attacked with the pruners, and here is the end result:

I went with the “not too drastic” approach as I cut out about 1/3 of the older wood at the base of the shrub hoping to keep it in bounds along my foundation without losing all of the blooms and the subsequent seedheads.

In a perfect world, I prefer to let my shrubs grow as they will without any interference. But I have had this particular Ninebark for five years now and it has been chowed to the ground numerous times by the deer. Now that it is hidden along my foundation planting, I am keeping it here for good and will do my best to maintain the appropriate size.

More photos to come in the near future as she begins to leave out and hopefully the shape will remain appealing after the haircut it has been given.

UPDATE: For even more info on this shrub, check out the update here from fall 2014.

Spring ahead

Posted on by Posted in Spring .

I have had my fill of “winter interest” for a few months weeks now and finally, friggin finally, there were some honest to goodness signs of Spring today. Nothing that got my panties all up in a bunch, but enough to whet the whistle for the time being.

There was enough snow melt to expose the ‘Red Carpet’ Sedum for the first time in 2014:

I found the first sign of an Iris:

I leapt for joy to see that the Peony I planted late last Fall survived the Winter:

Some daffodil bulbs announced their arrival:

The Allium bulbs I planted in a container and stored in the garage are emerging:

 

I even grabbed my canoe so I could travel through the newly formed rivers in my lawn to pay a visit to a Viburnum that is ripe with buds (suck it deer, I hid it well this year):

Now don’t get me wrong, it is still the frozen tundra out there:

But thing are looking up for the first time in ages.

I even spotted a creature that is common around these parts as the temps rise:

Dude is getting bigger by the minute. And I like the hurler’s form.

And it wouldn’t be a relaxing weekend day at home without the girl “creating”. Today she organized an elaborate basketball shootout that rewarded the victor with either a homemade “Rainbow Loom” medal:

Or the mother of all trophies:

Here’s to Spring and longer days and thaws and March Madness and bulbs and the return of baseball!

Podcast – “A roundtable discussion with the ladies from Savvy Gardening”

Posted on by Posted in Podcasts .

Put it in the books …

Tonight, we talked about the origins of Savvy Gardening, a near lawsuit with Viagara, a potential Spice Girls reunion, future “savvy” plans and some fantastic gardening tips.

If you want to listen to my discussion with the Savvy Gardening crew, click here: Podcast

To access their newly launched blog, click here: Savvy Gardening

To follow them on Twitter, click here: @savvygardening

To “Like” them on Facebook, click here: Savvy Gardening 

To follow them on Pinterest, click here: Savvy Gardening 

Philadelphia Flower Show – “A sea of dead plants”

Posted on by Posted in Public Garden .

Yesterday I referenced an exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show that grabbed my attention more than any other and also appeared to be the most polarizing exhibit at the show. I made it a point to carefully listen to as many visitors’ comments as possible as they approached this controversial display. The comments ranged from “It’s an ugly mess of weeds” to “It’s a sea of dead plants” to “It’s anti-color” to “I totally get it”. Personally, the first thing I said upon seeing it was “Kind of looks like my backyard right now”.

Guess I should explain …

The display, created by Scape Design, is based on the following painting:  

Crazy you say? Allow me to continue.

This painting, created by famed artist Albert Diato, was discovered within the private collection of Prince Albert of Monaco and is the inspiration for the garden display.

The water-filled silver/gray bowl represents the artist’s ceramic works and is intended to represent the bright Mediterranean light:

The curved orange block in the painting is interpreted through the use of a “cob wall” that represents the artists time spent in Afghanistan:

And the black circle in Diato’s painting is imagined as garden seating; a burnt black log that is intended to not be inviting, inspired by the artist’s desire to work in solitaire:  

After reading this information and absorbing it, I was fascinated by the display. The interpretation by the designer is way cool and such a departure from all of the other color filled exhibits at the show. I dig the anti-color (although brown is a color last I checked).

Of course as much as I loved the “artistry”, I was most fascinated by the use of the plants. The exhibit utilized all sorts of ornamental grasses (mostly Panicum aka Switch Grass), Rudbeckia and other “spent” plants highlighted by their seed heads:

Not what you expect to see at a Flower Show, eh? As I mentioned previously, it sort of looks like my own late winter garden right now. Beautiful in its own way and a really cool interpretation by the designer.

I kid you not, I spent a good hour lingering near this display just to enjoy the visitors’ reactions. Once the exhibit comes into view, it looks like this:

It immediately set people back and evoked such strong opinions. My biggest regret is that I didn’t personally interview these people so I could share their exact thoughts with you.

So what do you think?